New York

New climate law forces fossil fuel companies to pay fines
Signed on Boxing Day – is worth 800 billion kronor

Christina Nordh

Published 2024-12-27 22.42

According to a new law in New York, oil, gas and coal companies are responsible for climate change. Now they will be forced to pay hundreds of billions of kronor. Photo: AP

Fossil fuel companies are forced to pay heavy fines over the next 25 years.

It's about 75 billion dollars, about 800 billion kronor.

The money will go to damage caused to the climate according to a new law in the US state of New York.

The law, signed by state Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday, aims to shift some of the costs of recovery and adaptation to climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas and coal companies that are responsible under the law, writes the Reuters news agency.

Paying for climate adaptation

The fine money will be used to reduce the effects of climate change, including adapting roads, public transportation, water and sewage systems, buildings and other infrastructure.

“ New York has fired a shot that will be heard around the world: The companies most responsible for the climate crisis will be held accountable,” said New York Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat and co-author of the bill, in a statement.

Fossil fuel companies will be fined based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emitted into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2018. The money will go into a Climate Superfund from 2028. The law applies to all companies that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation estimates are responsible for more than one billion tons of global greenhouse gas emissions.